1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a portable frame for a chicken brooder conditioned air system for either heating or cooling a chicken brooder. The frame for a chicken brooder conditioned air system is comprised of a holding tank capable of being filled with water, a pump for pumping the water from the holding tank, a supply hose through which the water from the pump flows, and an air permeable frame through which water from the supply hose flows. The frame is comprised a first and second air permeable wall, between which is positioned at least one water retaining porous material, over which the water from the supply hose flows.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Brooders are enclosures where young chickens or other fowl are raised. In brooders, the amount of feed and other environmental factors are carefully monitored and controlled so that the young chickens remain healthy and gain weight rapidly allowing them to be moved to market faster than if the young chickens had been raised in their natural environment. By controlling the young chickens' nutritional and environmental requirements in a brooder, the level of cannibalism, a problem endemic among chickens, is greatly reduced. Another problem that the brooder may resolve is the regulation of the temperature. If the brooder is too cold, the young chickens can catch pneumonia or other diseases and die. If the brooder is too warm, particularly in summertime, then the young chickens will die of respiratory disorders.
There have been numerous attempts to build a system that will efficiently either heat or cool the brooder.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,837,065 (Pierce) is for a chick brooder which circulates warm air through the brooder using steam or hot water pipes leading to heating coils preferably arranged along the side walls of the house and high enough to leave aisles therebeneath. Arranged between the aisles are banks or tiers of brooder trays having walls of wire mesh. An inlet conduit in the form of a fan allows fresh air to circulate through the brooder. In order to humidify the air drawn into the chamber, a perforated pipe is connected to one of the coils to allow steam to enter the housing for moistening the air drawn therein.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,922,086 (Hart) is for a chicken brooder which takes in air from outside the brooder. During cold weather, the air which is circulated through the brooding chamber is heated by steam, vapor or hot water which is circulated through coils of pipe. Each coil is enclosed in a boxlike structure or casing and is connected by suitable piping to a common supply pipe which in turn is connected to a boiler. Heater boxes are placed in a space above the ceiling known as an auxiliary chamber, with each of the boxes being located directly above one of the side corridors or compartments in the assembly in parallel relation to the outer walls.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,396,703 (Trussell) is for a poultry hatching apparatus in which vertically disposed porous or pervious curtains descend from the ceiling and serve together with the walls of the building to form a plenum chamber on either side of the building. A fresh air inlet and purification apparatus is located on the wall beneath the eaves formed by the roof. A longitudinally disposed spray rack is located in the chamber formed by the roof and ceiling. These racks have nozzles arranged to provide a curtain of water across the intake of the chamber. Located proximate to the lower edge of the curtain, a water collecting trough runs longitudinally along the wall of the building to collect and return water from the spray racks.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,471 (Grant et. al.) relates to heating and cooling systems for poultry buildings. The buildings have adjustable side curtains, an electrical source, a pressurized gas fuel source and a pressurized water source available for utilization by the system. The system is comprised of a main forced-air heating and cooling system having an inlet port and outlet port for forcing conditioned air into a mainstream airflow pattern with the poultry building, a plurality of booster fans means for helping to circulate the air, a control means for electronically controlling the operation of the heating and cooling system, and a set of emergency fans for use as a back-up means for maintaining air flow to livestock in the event of loss of the main system. The cooling means has a water piping arrangement positioned at the outlet port and having spray nozzles for injecting mist into the airflow stream and being hydraulically coupled to a relay controlled water pump and to the pressurized water source.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,012,763 (Morrison) is for a portable plastic aquabrood which has an enclosed animal habitat chamber assembly and an enclosed water chamber assembly. These two structures have a common end wall and a bottom wall, with a submersible heater mounted in the water chamber assembly along with a thermometer. An aperture in the common upright end wall of the two assemblies has a valve that can be opened or closed to varying degrees to adjust the humidity in the animal habitat chamber assembly.